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COPYRIGHT 2001 The Miami Herald
Byline: Steve Bousquet
Apr. 20--TALLAHASSEE, Fla.--The most passionately fought issue of the legislative session involves the crisis in long-term care in Florida, as nursing home owners battle trial lawyers over how to improve patient care while reducing threats of punitive damage claims on the industry.
For weeks, all sides have used every tool of political warfare, from polls to press conferences to sloganeering and TV ads urging viewers to "Call your legislator now!" At stake is the future of an industry that now cares for 80,000 patients in a state where the over-75 population is growing exponentially.
Nursing home owners patrol the Capitol wearing "Don't drop the ball" buttons, blaming "greedy trial lawyers" for the crisis. Lawyers, led by Wilkes & McHugh, a Tampa firm that specializes in advocating for victims of nursing home abuse, fault nursing homes -- many owned by out-of-state chains -- that skimp on staffing to maximize...
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